Book your dates for JBay WinterFest ’14

The dates for the 2014 JBay WinterFest have been announced. The Festival will take place from 10 – 20 July and promises to be even more exciting than last year.

The big news is that the JBay Open of Surfing has been upgraded to a 5 A PST event, which means that the event carries the highest ranking possible for a South African surf contest.

“The JBay Open will comprise of a junior division, as well as the senior division and carries the sanction of Surfing South Africa,” said organiser Koffie Jacobs from the JBU Surf Club.

Greg Emslie won the inaugural JBay Open last year and is sure to be back in JBay come July to defend his title.

The JBay Open has replaced the now defunct Billabong Pro and forms part of the JBay WinterFest, which will take place from 10 – 20 July at various venues around Jeffreys Bay.

Greg Emslie won the 2013 JBay Open of Surfing. Photo: Clive Wright

The 2013 WinterFest, which was organised by the JBU Surf Club, brought an estimated 6000 – 8000 people to the town during the winter school holiday.

Visitors have already been contacting the JBay Tourism office to book their accommodation for this year’s WinterFest.

There will be lots on offer during the 2014 JBay WinterFest with most of the sports codes already onboard, some with expanded events.

The fishing competition will be held over two days this year as well the highly popular skating event.

The Mountain Bike event will also stretch over two days, while more events are planned around the JBay Cold Water Classic open water swim at Marina Martinique.

The JBay Cold Water Classic saw swimmers take on 12 degree C water without wetsuits

The Supertubes Surfing Foundation will also be involved with organising the Winterfest this year, as the event grows and brings more people into Jeffreys Bay during a historically quiet period economically.

The loss of the WCT rated Billabong Pro would have been a massive blow to Jeffreys Bay financially, should the local community not have stood together and organised an entire Festival to take its place.

Any sports codes who would like to form part of the JBay WinterFest can contact the organiser Koffie Jacobs via email at koffie@silverbullet.co.za